Alabama to execute man condemned when judge overrode jury

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press

Kim Chandler, Associated Press
Updated 8:20 pm, Wednesday, December 7, 2016





MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) An Alabama man convicted of killing a store clerk is scheduled to be executed Thursday, but lawyers for the former Eagle Scout are urging it be blocked because a judge overrode a jury recommendation in imposing the death sentence.

Forty-five-year-old Ronald Bert Smith, Jr., is set to receive a lethal injection at 6 p.m. CST Thursday for the Nov. 8, 1994, shooting death of Huntsville store clerk Casey Wilson. It would be Alabama's second execution this year if carried out.

Lawyers for Smith and the state submitted a flurry of last court filings to the state over whether a judge should have sentenced Smith to death when a jury recommended life imprisonment. Smith's attorneys have urged the U.S. Supreme Court to block the planned execution to review the judge's override.

A jury convicted Smith of capital murder in 1995 and recommended life imprisonment by a 7-5 vote, but the judge sentenced Smith to death.


Read more: http://www.chron.com/news/crime/article/Alabama-prepares-to-carry-out-second-execution-of-10780961.php

[Indydem]

1. "Recommended"

That means he didn't override anything. He passed a sentence against their recommendation.

[George II]

4. The judge overrode the jury's "recommendation". Call it what you want...

...but the jury did not vote for DEATH. The judge did.

[Travis_0004]

7. And the jury doesnt get the final say. The judge does.

[cstanleytech]

8. No they didn't but unless the judge is required under law to follow

there recommendation I honestly don't see how that can be grounds for appeal

[George II]

2. Unbelievable. Being Alabama, I'm sure it's being done in the name of "Jesus"*

*I'm a very spiritual man, and believe in God and Jesus' teachings. This is NOT what either wants.

[lapucelle]

5. I'm a practicing Catholic.

The Church needs to be as active and outspoken about the death penalty as it is about that other "pro life" issue.

[George II]

6. Actually it is up in the northeast, but not so much in Alabama. I don't know if there are many....

....Catholics in the righteous bible belt.

[lapucelle]

9. I remember when one of the popes came to the US the week

there was a scheduled execution. He asked that the state have mercy and not administer the death penalty. They respected his request and the man's life was spared...

for that week only. As soon as the pope left the US, the execution was carried out.

[Judi Lynn]

10. Wow. That was underhanded, for sure. Right-wing death worshippers won again.

They become ill if they aren't able to kill people legally often enough.

Thanks for your comment. It will definitely stick in my mind, and I do need to be reminded about the underside of the human race.
We definitely can't imagine they are just like humans at this point. That would be an enormous error.

[lastlib]

12. The Klan chased a lot of Catholics out---

Or lynched them....

The blood-lust of these pro-death people sickens me.

[7962]

3. Reading the crime, the sentence is correct. Just about 20 years late.

Screw that guy

[Kingofalldems]

14. Not surprised about your post.

[7962]

17. If the victims family supported a stay, I may change my mind.

Otherwise, people like this deserve to be removed from this earth. But ONLY in cases where there is ZERO DOUBT as to guilt. Plenty of those out there. And in THOSE cases, there is no justification for paying the bills for 20+ yrs to keep the murderer alive.
Again, ZERO DOUBT. Leaving NO chance for wrongful execution.
And most Democrats support the DP, as well as the rest of the population

[LanternWaste]

18. Certainly an exercise in self-esteem...

Certainly an exercise in self-esteem to pretend we know deserves to be removed. The post-justifications rationalizing that pretense are even more creative in both form and function.

[7962]

19. No, merely stating the opinion of most. As well as the facts of the case.

You'll find very few marching to stop the removal of a John wayne gacy type.
However, I'm all in favor of blocking an attempt at a death sentence for anyone who is not 100% positively the murderer.
And as I've said before, there are plenty of those cases out there. Before you ask "but how do we KNOW they're 100% guilty?"
My best example is the Atlanta Courthouse killer. On camera, in a courtroom, etc etc. ZERO doubt. Stop wasting our money feeding him.
On the other hand, OJ Simpson. I sure he did it, but not enough to give him the needle. he wasnt caught redhanded. And he may have had an accomplice.
But to each his own opinion.

[Skittles]

20. killing is wrong, and we will prove it by....killing

alrighty then

seems like much of the progressive world has advanced beyond that reasoning

[7962]

21. At least the law is still on my side.

And likely will continue to be.
Things keep going the way they are in Europe, and you may see a change there as well.

[Skittles]

22. ugh

over and out

[BuddhaGirl]

24. State-sponsored murder

is all about revenge, not justice.

The US is one of the few industrialized nations that still has the death penalty. How special to be in the same company as Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, and the entire middle east except for Israel. Not to mention a bunch of third-world countries.

We need to evolve, NOW.

[mountain grammy]

11. I can't support the death penalty.

I believe it's about as "cruel and unusual" punishment as you can get.

I don't know. It's hard. some people seem to deserve killing, but who should decide and who should have that kind of power?

[lastlib]

13. Who should have that power? Certainly not the State.

[mountain grammy]

16. Agree!

[Kingofalldems]

15. Like Judge Smails--this judge thought he owed it to Smith.

[Eugene]

23. U.S. Supreme Court issues 11th-hour stay in Alabama execution

Source: Reuters

U.S. | Thu Dec 8, 2016 | 6:48pm EST

U.S. Supreme Court issues 11th-hour stay in Alabama execution

By David Beasley

The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday ordered a stay in the execution of a former Eagle Scout condemned to die for a 1994 convenience store killing as his lawyers raised constitutional questions about the state's death sentencing process.

Ronald Smith, 45, had been set to die by lethal injection at 6 p.m. CST (0000 GMT) at the Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore, Alabama. He would be the 20th person executed this year in the United States and the second in Alabama, according to the nonprofit Death Penalty Information Center.

The Supreme Court did not give a reason for putting his execution on hold in the order, which was signed by Justice Clarence Thomas.

The decision came a month after the Supreme Court granted a last-minute hold to stop Alabama from carrying out another man's death sentence. Justices also did not give a reason for the stay of execution in that case.

The state's death penalty process is under scrutiny after the high court ruled in January that a similar death penalty law in Florida gave too much discretion to judges.

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Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-alabama-execution-idUSKBN13X1OC